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X-WR-CALDESC:2 August 1943:  Australian Coastwatchers sent coded message no
 ting sinking of John F. Kennedy's PT-109.\n\nFrom Wikipedia:\n\nThe explos
 ion on 2 August was spotted by an Australian coastwatcher\, Sub-lieutenant
  Arthur Reginald Evans\, who manned a secret observation post at the top o
 f the Mount Veve volcano on Kolombangara\, where more than 10\,000 Japanes
 e troops were garrisoned below on the southeast portion. The Navy and its 
 squadron of PT boats held a memorial service for the crew of PT-109 after 
 reports were made of the large explosion.\n\nHowever\, Evans dispatched is
 landers Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana in a dugout canoe to look for possible
  survivors after decoding news that the explosion he had witnessed was pro
 bably from the lost PT-109. They could avoid detection by Japanese ships a
 nd aircraft and\, if spotted\, would probably be taken for native fisherme
 n.\n\nKennedy and his men survived for six days on coconuts before they we
 re found by the scouts. Gasa and Kumana disobeyed an order by stopping by 
 Naru to investigate a Japanese wreck\, from which they salvaged fuel and f
 ood. They first fled by canoe from Kennedy\, who to them was simply a shou
 ting stranger. On the next island\, they pointed their Tommy guns at the r
 est of the crew since the only light-skinned people they expected to find 
 were Japanese and they were not familiar with either the language or the p
 eople.\n\nGasa later said 'All white people looked the same to me.' Kenned
 y convinced them they were on the same side. The small canoe was not big e
 nough for passengers. Though the Donovan book and movie depict Kennedy off
 ering a coconut inscribed with a message\, according to a National Geograp
 hic interview\, it was Gasa who suggested it and Kumana who climbed a coco
 nut tree to pick one. Kennedy cut the following message on a coconut:\n\n 
    NAURO ISL\n    COMMANDER... NATIVE KNOWS POS'IT...\n    HE CAN PILOT...
  11 ALIVE\n    NEED SMALL BOAT... KENNEDY\n\nKennedy told Gasa and Kumana\
 , 'If Japan man comes\, scratch out the message.'\n\nThe message was deliv
 ered at great risk through 35 nmi (65 km) of hostile waters patrolled by t
 he Japanese to the nearest Allied base at Rendova. Other coastwatcher nati
 ves who were caught had been tortured and killed. Later\, a canoe returned
  for Kennedy\, taking him to the coastwatcher to coordinate the rescue. PT
 -157\, commanded by Lieutenant William Liebenow\, was able to pick up the 
 survivors.\n\nThe arranged signal was four shots\, but since Kennedy only 
 had three bullets in his pistol\, Evans gave him a Japanese rifle for the 
 fourth signal shot. The sailors sang 'Yes Jesus Loves Me' to pass the time
 . Gasa and Kumana received little notice or credit in military reports\, b
 ooks\, or movies until 2002 when they were interviewed by National Geograp
 hic shortly before Gasa's death.\n\nIn a more recent visit to the area\, w
 riter/photographer Jad Davenport managed to track down the then-90-year-ol
 d Eroni Kumana\, and together they made a visit to view Kennedy Island. In
  typical fashion for the time\, Kumana reports that the first thing the su
 rvivors asked for was cigarettes. When they realized they had no matches\,
  Kumana surprised and delighted the men by making a fire by rubbing two st
 icks together.\n\nThe coconut shell came into the possession of Ernest W. 
 Gibson\, Jr. who was serving in the South Pacific with the 43rd Infantry D
 ivision.[20] Gibson later returned it to Kennedy.[21] Kennedy preserved it
  in a glass paperweight on his Oval Office desk during his presidency. It 
 is now on display at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston\, Massachusetts
 .\n\nKennedy's coconut message was not the only message given to the coast
 watchers. A more detailed message was written by the executive officer of 
 PT-109\, Leonard Jay Thom. Thom's message was a 'penciled note' written on
  paper. Kennedy's message was written on a more hidden location in case th
 e native coastwatchers were stopped and searched by the Japanese.\n\nThom'
 s message read:\n\n    To: Commanding Officer--Oak O\n    From:Crew P.T. 1
 09 (Oak 14)\n    Subject: Rescue of 11(eleven) men lost since Sunday\, Aug
 ust 1 in enemy action. Native knows our position & will bring P.T. Boat ba
 ck to small islands of Ferguson Passage off NURU IS. A small boat (outboar
 d or oars) is needed to take men off as some are seriously burned.\n    Si
 gnal at night three dashes (- - -) Password--Roger---Answer---Wilco If att
 empted at day time--advise air coverage or a PBY could set down. Please wo
 rk out a suitable plan & act immediately Help is urgent & in sore need. Re
 ly on native boys to any extent\n    Thom\n    Ens. U.S.N.R\n    Exec. 109
 .[23]\n\nThom and Kennedy were both awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Meda
 l.\n\nRead about the sinking of PT-109 in the Smithsonian Magazine article
 : 'Remembering PT-109' via the link below. And learn more about JFK via th
 e National Park Service site - link below.
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TZID:America/New_York
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DTSTART:20251102T020000
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
RDATE:20261101T020000
RDATE:20271107T020000
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BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:9b809e54-66b2-4a35-89f6-a7f8de65da77
DTSTAMP:20260424T111314Z
DESCRIPTION:2 August 1943:  Australian Coastwatchers sent coded message not
 ing sinking of John F. Kennedy's PT-109.\n\nFrom Wikipedia:\n\nThe explosi
 on on 2 August was spotted by an Australian coastwatcher\, Sub-lieutenant 
 Arthur Reginald Evans\, who manned a secret observation post at the top of
  the Mount Veve volcano on Kolombangara\, where more than 10\,000 Japanese
  troops were garrisoned below on the southeast portion. The Navy and its s
 quadron of PT boats held a memorial service for the crew of PT-109 after r
 eports were made of the large explosion.\n\nHowever\, Evans dispatched isl
 anders Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana in a dugout canoe to look for possible 
 survivors after decoding news that the explosion he had witnessed was prob
 ably from the lost PT-109. They could avoid detection by Japanese ships an
 d aircraft and\, if spotted\, would probably be taken for native fishermen
 .\n\nKennedy and his men survived for six days on coconuts before they wer
 e found by the scouts. Gasa and Kumana disobeyed an order by stopping by N
 aru to investigate a Japanese wreck\, from which they salvaged fuel and fo
 od. They first fled by canoe from Kennedy\, who to them was simply a shout
 ing stranger. On the next island\, they pointed their Tommy guns at the re
 st of the crew since the only light-skinned people they expected to find w
 ere Japanese and they were not familiar with either the language or the pe
 ople.\n\nGasa later said 'All white people looked the same to me.' Kennedy
  convinced them they were on the same side. The small canoe was not big en
 ough for passengers. Though the Donovan book and movie depict Kennedy offe
 ring a coconut inscribed with a message\, according to a National Geograph
 ic interview\, it was Gasa who suggested it and Kumana who climbed a cocon
 ut tree to pick one. Kennedy cut the following message on a coconut:\n\n  
   NAURO ISL\n    COMMANDER... NATIVE KNOWS POS'IT...\n    HE CAN PILOT... 
 11 ALIVE\n    NEED SMALL BOAT... KENNEDY\n\nKennedy told Gasa and Kumana\,
  'If Japan man comes\, scratch out the message.'\n\nThe message was delive
 red at great risk through 35 nmi (65 km) of hostile waters patrolled by th
 e Japanese to the nearest Allied base at Rendova. Other coastwatcher nativ
 es who were caught had been tortured and killed. Later\, a canoe returned 
 for Kennedy\, taking him to the coastwatcher to coordinate the rescue. PT-
 157\, commanded by Lieutenant William Liebenow\, was able to pick up the s
 urvivors.\n\nThe arranged signal was four shots\, but since Kennedy only h
 ad three bullets in his pistol\, Evans gave him a Japanese rifle for the f
 ourth signal shot. The sailors sang 'Yes Jesus Loves Me' to pass the time.
  Gasa and Kumana received little notice or credit in military reports\, bo
 oks\, or movies until 2002 when they were interviewed by National Geograph
 ic shortly before Gasa's death.\n\nIn a more recent visit to the area\, wr
 iter/photographer Jad Davenport managed to track down the then-90-year-old
  Eroni Kumana\, and together they made a visit to view Kennedy Island. In 
 typical fashion for the time\, Kumana reports that the first thing the sur
 vivors asked for was cigarettes. When they realized they had no matches\, 
 Kumana surprised and delighted the men by making a fire by rubbing two sti
 cks together.\n\nThe coconut shell came into the possession of Ernest W. G
 ibson\, Jr. who was serving in the South Pacific with the 43rd Infantry Di
 vision.[20] Gibson later returned it to Kennedy.[21] Kennedy preserved it 
 in a glass paperweight on his Oval Office desk during his presidency. It i
 s now on display at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston\, Massachusetts.
 \n\nKennedy's coconut message was not the only message given to the coastw
 atchers. A more detailed message was written by the executive officer of P
 T-109\, Leonard Jay Thom. Thom's message was a 'penciled note' written on 
 paper. Kennedy's message was written on a more hidden location in case the
  native coastwatchers were stopped and searched by the Japanese.\n\nThom's
  message read:\n\n    To: Commanding Officer--Oak O\n    From:Crew P.T. 10
 9 (Oak 14)\n    Subject: Rescue of 11(eleven) men lost since Sunday\, Augu
 st 1 in enemy action. Native knows our position & will bring P.T. Boat bac
 k to small islands of Ferguson Passage off NURU IS. A small boat (outboard
  or oars) is needed to take men off as some are seriously burned.\n    Sig
 nal at night three dashes (- - -) Password--Roger---Answer---Wilco If atte
 mpted at day time--advise air coverage or a PBY could set down. Please wor
 k out a suitable plan & act immediately Help is urgent & in sore need. Rel
 y on native boys to any extent\n    Thom\n    Ens. U.S.N.R\n    Exec. 109.
 [23]\n\nThom and Kennedy were both awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal
 .\n\nRead about the sinking of PT-109 in the Smithsonian Magazine article:
  'Remembering PT-109' via the link below. And learn more about JFK via the
  National Park Service site - link below.
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260802T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260802T235900
LOCATION:
SUMMARY:1943: Australian Coastwatchers Send Code
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR